Tiltable drawer assembly

ABSTRACT

A drawer assembly that includes a housing and drawer movably coupled to the housing. The housing includes at least one linear slot and at least one non-linear slot that has a straight section and an arcuate section. The drawer includes a plurality of pegs or protrusions that engage and movably couple to the slots for coupling the drawer to the housing. As the drawer moves from a closed position to an open position, the pegs slide within the linear slot and the straight section of the non-linear slot to provide linear movement of the drawer towards the open position. Once in the open position, the drawer may be tilted when the pegs engaged and coupled to the non-linear slot move through the arcuate section.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 62/878,713, filed on Jul. 25, 2019, the entire disclosure of whichis hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

A drawer assembly that includes at least one linear slot and at leastone non-linear slot that has a straight section and an arcuate sectionfor providing linear and rotational movement of a drawer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Drawer assemblies have been around for decades. Yet, many drawerassemblies are complex, and include many moving parts. The makeup of adrawer traditionally is a drawer box with a drawer front, a bottom andsome type of slide mechanism. Most drawers pull straight out, but forstorage of certain items it is desirable to tilt the front of thedrawer, however most of these have been very complex mechanisms, or uselatches to attach the drawer front to the rest of the drawer box, whichusually allows undesirable movement of the drawer front relative to thedrawer box. Other designs have been more complex and the complexity ofassembly and manufacture of the drawer assembly increases cost andreliability. In addition, the complicated mechanisms that allow slideand tile generally take up substantial space in the cavity receiving thedrawer. As such with a smaller drawer box, the drawer can hold feweritems.

Other drawer assemblies, such as those shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,769,266issued to Morris on Aug. 3, 2010 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,169,221 issued toWheeler on Dec. 8, 1992, disclose drawer assemblies including drawerguides for facilitating linear movement of a drawer between an openposition and a closed position. In addition, the drawer assembliesinclude a pivot assembly coupled along, or at the end of, the drawerguide, to facilitate tilting of the drawer. Yet again, such designs arecomplex, causing difficulty for assembly and manufacture. Accordingly,there is a need in the art for a simple, easily assembled, andsimplified manufactured drawer assembly that allows for linear movementand tilting of a drawer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention solves such problems by providing a drawerassembly that is simple, easy to assemble, light weight, yet sturdy,durable, and simple to manufacture due to the limited parts. Moreover,the present invention of a drawer assembly provides for linear movementand tilting, or rotation, of a drawer. More specifically, the drawerassembly of the present invention includes a housing and drawer movablycoupled to the housing. The housing includes at least one linear slotand at least one non-linear slot that has a straight section and anarcuate section. The drawer includes at least one, or more preferably, aplurality of pegs or protrusions that engage and movably couple to theslots for coupling the drawer to the housing. As the drawer moves from aclosed position to an open position, the pegs slide within the linearslot and the straight section of the non-linear slot to provide linearmotion of the drawer towards the open position. Once in the openposition, the drawer may extended and tilted for a combined motion. Morespecifically the tilt function occurs when the pegs in the non-linearslot move through the arcuate section. This allows the present inventionto eliminate traditional drawer slides and complex mechanisms andtherefore increase the drawer box size to the maximum size for thedrawer cavity.

The drawer assembly may include a housing configured to receive a drawerand wherein the housing includes a pair of sides each having at leastone slot with a linear portion and a nonlinear portion and wherein thedrawer includes at least one protrusion disposed in the slot. The twosides include at least one linear slot, and the at least one slotincludes at least one nonlinear slot.

The drawer includes drawer sides each aligned with the two sides of thehousing and wherein the drawer sides each include at least oneprotrusion. The at least one protrusion includes a protrusion disposedin the at least one linear slots and the at least one non-linear slot.

The at least one non-linear slots each includes a linear portion and anon-linear portion. The non-linear portion has an arcuate profile. Inmany instances the sides include a second non-linear slot, which formthe at least one non-linear slot. More specifically, the sides mayinclude the at least one slot which may include includes a first slotwith a first profile and a second slot with a second profile and whereinthe first and second profiles are different. For one of the slots, thenonlinear portion of the nonlinear slot may extends substantiallyvertical from the horizontal linear portion and wherein the non-linearportion has an arcuate profile.

The drawer assembly may include a second slot having a substantiallyhorizontal extending linear section and wherein a second non-linearportion extends off the front end of the slot upwardly and toward thefront with an arcuate profile. The non-linear portion may extendupwardly and arcuately away from the linear portion and wherein thenon-linear portion is disposed about half way between a forward end anda rearward end of the linear portion. In addition, the drawer assemblymay include at least one protrusion having a first protrusion which isconfigured to be disposed in the linear portion between the forward endand the non-linear portion of the slot and a second protrusionconfigured to be disposed in the nonlinear portion as well as therearward linear portion located between the rearward end and thenon-linear portion of the slot and the drawer is moved betweenpositions.

The drawer assembly may include a housing including a first side and asecond side and wherein each side includes at least one slot having alinear portion and a nonlinear portion; and the drawer disposed in acavity of the housing having first and second drawer sides substantiallyaligned with the first side and the second side of the housing andwherein each of the first and second drawer sides includes a firstprotrusion and a second protrusion spaced from the first protrusion andwherein at least one of the first and second protrusions is configuredto be disposed in the at least one slot. The linear portion extendsalong the axis of the linear movement of the drawer between an open andclosed position and the nonlinear portion extends upwardly from thelinear portion and wherein the first protrusion is constrained to onlymove linearly within the linear portion and the second protrusion isconfigured to move within both the linear and nonlinear portions. Thedrawer assembly may include a nonlinear slot a nonlinear slot having thelinear portion and the nonlinear portion and second linear slotextending along axis of the linear movement of the drawer between theopen and the closed positions. In some instances the at least one slotincludes a third nonlinear slot. The third non-linear slot may beconfigured to include a linear portion ending in a nonlinear portion.

19. The drawer assembly of claim 16 wherein the first protrusion isdisposed in the second linear slot and the second protrusion is disposedin the at least one slot having a linear portion and a nonlinearportion.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a side view of a drawer assembly showing the positionof the pegs within the slots when the drawer is in the closed position;

FIG. 2 illustrates a side view of the drawer assembly showing theposition of the pegs within the slots as the drawer is extended half ofthe length of its linear movement;

FIG. 3 illustrates a side perspective view of the drawer assemblyshowing the positions of the pegs within the slots as the drawer reachesthe end of its linear movement as it is being opened;

FIG. 4 illustrate front perspective view of the drawer assembly in FIG.3;

FIG. 5 illustrates a side perspective view of the drawer assemblyshowing the position of the pegs within the slots as the drawer isrotated half way through its range of rotation;

FIG. 6 illustrates a side view of the drawer assembly in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 illustrates a side perspective view of the drawer assemblyshowing the position of the pegs within the slots at the end of itsrotation to a fully open and fully rotated position;

FIG. 8 illustrates a side view of the drawer assembly in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 illustrates a side view of a drawer assembly for a smaller drawerand showing the position of the pegs within the slots when the drawer isin the closed position;

FIG. 10 illustrates a side view of the drawer assembly of FIG. 9 andshowing the position of the pegs within the slots as the drawer movestowards an open position, is fully extended with regards to the linearmovement, but not yet tilted;

FIG. 11 illustrates a side view of the drawer assembly of FIG. 9 showingthe position of the pegs within the slots when the drawer is in the openposition and fully tilted or rotated position;

FIG. 12 illustrates a side view of a drawer assembly showing theposition of the pegs within the slots when the drawer is in the closedposition;

FIG. 13 illustrates a side view of the drawer assembly of FIG. 12showing the position of the pegs within the slots as the drawer movestowards an open position;

FIG. 14 illustrates a side view of the drawer assembly of FIG. 12showing the position of the pegs within the slots when the drawer is inthe open position fully extended linearly, but not tilted or rotated;

FIG. 15 illustrates a side view of the drawer assembly of FIG. 12showing the position of the pegs within the slots when the drawer is inthe open position and tilted;

FIG. 16 illustrates a side view of a drawer assembly having a singleslot with a linear and non-linear portion and the position of the pegswithin the slots when the drawer is in the closed position;

FIG. 17 illustrates a side view of the drawer assembly of FIG. 16showing the position of the pegs within the slots as the drawer moveslinearly towards an open position;

FIG. 18 illustrates a side view of the drawer assembly of FIG. 16showing the position of the pegs in the slots when the drawer is in theopen position, fully extended linearly, but not tilted or rotated;

FIG. 19 illustrates a side view of the drawer assembly of FIG. 16showing the position of the pegs in the slots when the drawer is in theopen position, foully extended but only partially tilted or rotated; and

FIG. 20 illustrates a side view of the drawer assembly of FIG. 16 thepegs in the slots when the drawer is in the open position, foullyextended and fully tilted or rotated.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With references to the FIGS., the present invention provides a drawerassembly 20 that facilitates linear and rotational movement of a drawer22 between open and closed positions. With reference to FIGS. 1-10, thedrawer assembly 20 includes a housing 24, which defines a cavity 25. Thehousing 24 has a pair of sides 26, and each side 26 has a top, bottom,front and back edge 28, 30, 32, 34, respectfully. While only one side 26of the pair of sides 26 is illustrated in the Figures, the other side 26is a mirror image of the illustrated side 26, with the same slotconfigurations. The housing 24 receives, between each side 26, and ismovably coupled to, the drawer 22 to allow the drawer 22 to move betweenthe closed position where the drawer 22 is disposed in the cavity 25 andthe open position where the drawer 22 is moved outwardly from the cavity25. The drawer 22 may vary in size shape and configuration and in someinstances may include a drawer box with an attached drawer box. However,the illustrated drawer 22 is specifically configured to maximize thefunction of storage and access in combination with specific movementallowed by the present invention. For example, the drawer may be akeyboard tray that pulls out and rotates down and out to allow ease oftyping and then is rotated upward and stowed to provide more legroomwhen not in use.

In the assembly 20, as illustrated in FIGS. 1-10, the housing 24includes at least one linear slot 36 defined on each side 26 and a pegor protrusion 64 on each side disposed within the slot 36 and configuredto slide within the slot 64. More specifically, the at least one linearslot 36 on each side is disposed in the sides 26 provides a linearmotion allowing the drawer 22 to slide out of the housing 24 or bepushed back into the housing 24. The linear slots 36 define a rotationpoint for the drawer after being pulled out to the end of the linearslots 36. While the location may vary, the linear slots 36 on thehousing 24 sides 26 may be configured along the center of gravity of thedrawer 22, typically with some load in the drawer 22, allowing thedrawer 22 to rotate easier than if the linear slot 36 was displaced nearthe top of the drawer 22 or the bottom of the drawer 22. In theillustrated embodiment, that location of the slots 36 approximatelyhalf-way between the top and bottom edges 28, 30 and extends from afirst end 40 adjacent the front edge 32 approximately half-way to theback edge 34 to a second end 42.

In addition, each side 26 defines at least one non-linear slot 38. Thenon-linear slot is configured to allow rotation movement or tilting ofthe drawer when the peg 64 disposed in the linear slot 36 reaches thefirst end 40 and is engaged against the front end 40, the peg 64 engagedin the nonlinear slot 38 reaches the seventh end, and is clear to travelalong the nonlinear portion of the nonlinear slot 38, illustrated as anarcuate portion 54 in FIGS. 3 and 4, and then is free to travel alongthe arcuate portion while the peg 64 in the linear slot 36 remainsengaged against the first end 40, as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, untilthe peg 64 in the nonlinear slot reaches the sixth end 64, as defined ingreater detail below.

With reference to FIGS. 1-10, each side 26 defines a first non-linearslot 38 a that has a first non-linear portion 44, and as illustrated inFIGS. 1-10 is an arcuate section 44 and a first straight section 46. Thefirst arcuate section 44 arcs from a third end 48 disposed adjacent thecorner of the top and front edges 28, 30, downwardly to a fourth end 50where the first straight section 46 begins and extends parallel with thelinear slot 36 towards the back edge 34 to a fifth end 52. In someembodiments, the drawer assembly 20 may further define in each side 26 asecond non-linear slot 38 b that has a second arcuate section 54 and asecond straight section 56. The drawer assembly 20 has been illustratedwith both the first non-linear slot 38 a and the second non-linear slot38 b, to illustrate that the length and profile of the non-linear slot38 will vary depending on the location on the drawer 22, specificallythe peg 64 in the linear slot 36. As the drawer is rotating about thepeg 64 in the linear slot 36, the shape of the non-linear or arcuateportion 44 will change depending upon the location of the second peg 64disposed in the nonlinear slot 38. As illustrated in FIGS. 1-10, a pegthat is located above and more proximate to the peg 64 disposed in thelinear slot 36 requires a shorter and different profile for thenonlinear slot, and the radius of the arc of the arcuate portion willchange depending on distance of the peg 64 in the non-linear slot 38from the peg 64 in the linear slot 36. As illustrated in FIGS. 1-10, thefirst non-linear slot 38 a has a more gentle transition from the linearportion 46 to the arcuate portion 44, as compared to the secondnon-linear slot's 38 transition from the linear portion 56 to thearcuate portion 54.

In the drawer assembly illustrated in FIGS. 1-10, the second arcuatesection 54 is aligned perpendicular to, and arcs about, the linear slot36 and extends from a sixth end 58 to a seventh end 60 where the secondstraight section 42 extends from the seventh end 60 parallel with thelinear slot 36 and the first straight section 46 towards the back edge34 to an eighth end 62. As one of skill in the art will readilyappreciate, there are many variations of linear and non-linear slots 36,38 that would fall within the scope of the present invention. Moreover,the size and spacing of the linear and non-linear slots 36, 38 may vary.For example, FIGS. 9 and 10 illustrate an embodiment of the presentinvention for smaller assemblies, i.e., for smaller drawers,incorporating the above described linear and non-linear slots 36, 38 ona smaller scale.

With further reference to FIGS. 1-10, the drawer 22 of the assembly 20is movably coupled to the housing 24 and has a pair of side walls 47spaced opposite one another, and a plurality of pegs 64 protrude fromeach side wall 47. In the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1-11, theplurality of pegs 64 are further defined as a plurality of three pegs64. Each one of the pegs 64 is sized to engage and movably couple toeach slot 36, 38 of the housing 24 when the drawer 22 is received by andmovably coupled to the housing 24. In some embodiments, the pegs 64 maycomprise of bearings or other structure(s) for allowing the pegs 64 toglide or slide within the slots 36, 38.

With reference the drawer assembly 20 illustrated in FIG. 1, the pegs 64are spaced from one another and aligned such that when the drawer 22 isin the closed position one of the three pegs 64 is positioned in each ofthe second end 42 of the linear slot 36, the fifth end of the firststraight section 46, and the eighth end 62 of the second straightsection 56. Moreover, and with reference to FIGS. 7-10 and 12, when thedrawer 22 is in the open position, the one of the three pegs 64 ispositioned in each of the first end 40 of the linear slot 36, the thirdend 48 of the first arcuate section 44, and the sixth end 58 of thesecond arcuate section 54. The pegs 64 may be made in a variety ofsizes, shapes and configurations. Any peg capable of smoothly sliding inthe slots 36/38 and taking the weight of the drawer is acceptable. Insome instances, the pegs may be simply a shaft with an enlarged end,such as a bolt with a smooth portion. In other instances the shaft ofthe peg 64 may be a bearing to roll against the edges of the slots 36 &38, and an enlarged head may be included. The pegs 64 may be welded,bolted to or otherwise coupled to the drawer 22.

As the drawer 22 is moved from the closed position to the open position,each peg 64 moves within the respective linear or non-linear slot 36,38, such that the drawer 22 is pulled linearly outwardly from the cavity25 and then tilted, or folded, downwardly to the open position. Morespecifically, and with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the pegs 64 engagedand movably coupled to the first and second non-linear slots 38 a, 38 bmove from the fifth and eighth ends 52, 62 through the straight section46 towards the fourth and seventh ends 50, 60 causing linear movement ofthe drawer 22. Moreover, the peg 64 engaged and movably coupled to thelinear slot 36 moves from the second end 42 to the first end 40 to alsosupport the linear movement of the drawer 22. With reference to FIGS.5-10, as the drawer 22 is further moved to the open position, the pegs64 engaged and movably coupled to the first and second non-linear slots38 a, 38 b move from the fourth and seventh ends 50, 60 into and throughthe arcuate sections 44, 54 towards the third and sixth ends 48, 58,causing the drawer 22 to be tilted downwardly into the open position. Itis to be appreciated that as the drawer 22 is tilted, the peg 64 engagedand movably coupled to the linear slot 36 maintains its position at thefirst end 40.

As the drawer 22 is moved from the open position to the closed position,each peg 64 moves within the respective linear or non-linear slot 36,38, such that the drawer 22 is tilted upwardly and is pushed linearlyinto the cavity 25 to the closed position. With reference to FIGS. 5-10,initially as the drawer 22 is tilted upwardly, the pegs 64 engaged andmovably coupled to the first and second non-linear slots 38 a, 38 b movefrom the third and sixth ends 48, 58 through the arcuate sections 44, 54towards the fourth and seventh ends 50, 60. Again, it is to beappreciated that as the drawer 22 is tilted, the peg 64 engaged andmovably coupled to the linear slot 36 maintains its position at thefirst end 40. As the drawer 22 is further closed, and with reference toFIGS. 2 and 3, the pegs 64 engaged and movably coupled to the first andsecond non-linear slots 38 a, 38 b move from the fourth and seventh ends50, 60 through the straight section 46 towards the fifth and eighth ends52, 62 causing linear movement of the drawer 22 to the closed position.Moreover, the peg 64 engaged and movably coupled to the linear slot 36moves from the first end 40 to the second end 42 to also support thelinear movement of the drawer 22.

With reference to FIGS. 12-15, the housing 142 defines linear slots 136in each pair of sides 146. Each linear slot is centrally disposed andspaced from the bottom edge 130 of the side 146 and extends from a ninthend 166 to a tenth end 168. Each side wall 146 further includes a thirdnon-linear slot 138 c positioned above the linear slot 136 and having athird straight section 170 and a third arcuate section 172. The thirdstraight section 170 extends from an eleventh end 174 adjacent the backedge 134 towards the front edge 132 to a twelfth end 176. The thirdarcuate section 172 arcs downwardly and back towards the back edge 134to a thirteenth end 178.

With further reference to FIGS. 12-15, the drawer 122 of the assembly120 is movably coupled to the housing 124 and has a pair of sides 147spaced opposite one another and a plurality of pegs 164 protrude fromeach side 147. In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 13-16, eachsidewall 148 includes a pair of pegs 164 wherein one of the pair of pegs164 is movably disposed in and couples to one of the linear slot 136 andthe non-linear slot 138 c and movably couples to the drawer 122 and tothe housing 124.

With reference to FIG. 12, the pegs 164 are spaced from one another suchthat when the drawer 122 is in the closed position, the pegs 164 aredisposed in the respective linear and non-linear slots 136, 138 c at therespective ninth and eleventh ends 168, 174. With reference to FIGS. 14and 15, as the drawer 122 is moved towards its opened position, therespective pegs 164 move within the linear slot 136 and the thirdstraight section 170 from the respective ninth and eleventh ends 168,174 to the respective tenth and twelfth ends 166, 176, which facilitateslinear movement of the drawer 122 to a first open position. Withreference to FIG. 16, the drawer 122 may be tilted, or rotated, to anupward open position as the peg 164 that is movably disposed in andcoupled to the non-linear slot 138 c moves from the twelfth end 176 intoand through the third arcuate section 172 to the thirteenth end 178 tothe upward open position.

With reference to FIGS. 16-20, the drawer assembly 20 may be formed witha single slot 230 having an elongated linear portion 236, and anon-linear portion 238 extending upward therefrom. The drawer 22 mayinclude two pegs 64, specifically a linear peg 64 a and a rotational peg64 b. The linear peg 64 a is configured to only move in the linearportion 236 of the slot 230, while the rotation peg 64 b is configuredto move in the linear portion 236 of the slot 230, and then when thelinear peg 64 a engages the forward end 240 of the linear slot, thedrawer 22 may be tilted or rotated by the rotational peg 64 b enteringthe nonlinear portion 238 of the slot 230. The nonlinear portion 238 isillustrated with an arcuate profile having an end 250 that stopsrotation of the drawer 22. The corner 260 of the slot 230 may also beconfigured with a radius to allow easier return of the rotational peg 64b to the linear portion 236 of the slot 230. In addition, a bump orrecess in the upper wall of the rearward linear portion 238 may beincluded, such that one pulling the drawer outward has a tactile feel ofwhere to stop the linear movement to avoid rotation of the drawer, ifsuch rotation is not desired. The rear of the linear slot portion 236includes a rearward end 280 that the rotation peg 64 b engages when thedrawer is fully closed.

The specification and illustrations of the embodiments described hereinare intended to provide a general understanding of the structure of thevarious embodiments. The specification and illustrations are notintended to serve as an exhaustive and comprehensive description of allof the elements and features of apparatus and systems that use thestructures or methods described herein. Many other embodiments may beapparent to those skilled in the art upon reviewing the disclosure.Other embodiments may be used and derived from the disclosure, such thata structural substitution, logical substitution, or another change maybe made without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly,the disclosure is to be regarded as illustrative rather thanrestrictive.

Certain features, for clarity, described herein in the context ofseparate embodiments, may also be provided in combination in a singleembodiment. Conversely, various features that are, for brevity,described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be providedseparately or in any subcombination. Further, references to values areto be regarded as non-limiting examples.

What is claimed is:
 1. A drawer assembly comprising: a housingconfigured to receive a drawer and wherein said housing includes a pairof sides each having at least one slot with a linear portion and anonlinear portion and wherein said drawer includes at least oneprotrusion disposed in said slot.
 2. The drawer assembly of claim 1wherein each of said two sides include at least one linear slot.
 3. Thedrawer assembly of claim 2 wherein said at least one slot includes atleast one nonlinear slot.
 4. The drawer assembly of claim 3 wherein saiddrawer includes drawer sides each aligned with said two sides of saidhousing and wherein said drawer sides each include said at least oneprotrusion and wherein said at least one protrusion includes aprotrusion disposed in said at least one linear slots and said at leastone non-linear slot.
 5. The drawer assembly of claim 3 wherein said atleast one non-linear slot each includes a linear portion and anon-linear portion.
 6. The drawer assembly of claim 1 wherein saidnon-linear portion has an arcuate profile.
 7. The drawer assembly ofclaim 1 wherein each of said at least one non-linear slot includes asecond non-linear slot.
 8. The drawer assembly of claim 1 said at leastone slot includes a first slot with a first profile and a second slotwith a second profile and wherein said first and second profiles aredifferent.
 9. The drawer assembly of claim 1 wherein said nonlinearportion extends substantially vertical from the horizontal linearportion and wherein said non-linear portion has an arcuate profile. 10.The drawer assembly of claim 9 wherein said at least one slot includes asecond slot having a substantially horizontal extending linear sectionand wherein a second non-linear portion extends off the front end ofsaid slot upwardly and toward the front with an arcuate profile.
 11. Thedrawer assembly of claim 1 wherein said non-linear portion extendsupwardly and arcuately away from said linear portion and wherein saidnon-linear portion is disposed about half way between a forward end anda rearward end of said linear portion.
 12. The drawer assembly of claim11 wherein said at least one protrusion includes a first protrusionwhich is configured to be disposed in the linear portion between theforward end and the non-linear portion of the slot and a secondprotrusion configured to be disposed in the nonlinear portion as well asthe rearward linear portion located between the rearward end and thenon-linear portion of the slot and the drawer is moved betweenpositions.
 13. A drawer assembly comprising: a housing including a firstside and a second side and wherein each side includes at least one slothaving a linear portion and a nonlinear portion; a drawer having firstand second drawer sides substantially aligned with said first side andsaid second side of said housing and wherein each of said first andsecond drawer sides includes a first protrusion and a second protrusionspaced from said first protrusion and wherein at least one of said firstand second protrusions is configured to be disposed in said at least oneslot.
 14. The drawer assembly of claim 1 wherein said linear portionextends along the axis of the linear movement of said drawer between anopen and closed position.
 15. The drawer assembly of claim 14 whereinsaid nonlinear portion extends upwardly from said linear portion andwherein said first protrusion is constrained to only move linearlywithin said linear portion and said second protrusion is configured tomove within both said linear and nonlinear portions.
 16. The drawerassembly of claim 14 wherein said at least one slot includes a nonlinearslot having said linear portion and said nonlinear portion and secondlinear slot extending along axis of the linear movement of said drawerbetween the open and the closed positions.
 17. The drawer assembly ofclaim 16 wherein said at least one slot includes a third nonlinear slot.18. The drawer assembly of claim 17 wherein said third non-linear slotincludes a linear portion ending in a nonlinear portion.
 19. The drawerassembly of claim 16 wherein said first protrusion is disposed in saidsecond linear slot and said second protrusion is disposed in said atleast one slot having a linear portion and a nonlinear portion.